Moments after Collier was seated, she began to cough uncontrollably — suffering from a cold she caught from some of her friends earlier in the week. After a few minutes, members of the flight staff asked the teen if she was OK. […] “A doctor onboard even did a brief physical, said she sounded clear, to give her some NyQuil and she’d be fine, but the pilot didn’t want to listen to that.” Instead, according to Collier, he stepped in and asked that she be taken off the flight.

The teen, part of a school group, was left behind. A teacher stayed behind too, to chaperone.